More than a third of private-sector employees worry about losing jobs

Around one-third of private-sector employees are concerned about losing their jobs, although many believe the economy is gradually picking up, an Internet survey by a think tank said Monday.

The Research Institute for Advancement of Living Standards conducted the survey online in early April. About 2,000 workers ranging from their 20s to early 60s responded from the Tokyo metropolitan area and the Kansai region around Osaka.

The survey said that 34.6 percent are concerned about losing their jobs and that only 18.9 percent think their wages will be higher a year from now. It also found that 26.8 percent had seen their salaries drop from the previous year, exceeding the 22.6 percent whose salaries rose.

“The number of those who think the economy will turn around is increasing, but workers cannot actually feel the recovery,” said an official at the think tank, an affiliate of the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (Rengo).

“Many workers, particularly those at small companies and nonregular employees, still worry about unemployment,” the official said.

A total of 30.4 percent said their household finances were in deficit in the past year. Many of them are in their 40s to early 60s and earning less than ¥4 million a year, working on a nonpermanent basis.

Meanwhile 23.9 percent said their total household assets, including bank deposits, were worth less than ¥1 million.